A
new theory coming out of Pennsylvania State University suggests that
the interaction between animals and humans played a key role in the
evolution of humanity. Penn State anthropologist Pat
Shipman has just published her paper "The Animal Connection And
Human Evolution" in the latest edition of Current
Anthropology.

Her research introduces the idea that
the domestication of animals drove the development of tool-making and
language, both of which have driven the success of mankind, according
to Physorg.

"Establishing
an intimate connection to other animals is unique and universal to
our species," said Shipman. Shipman indicates that the animal
connection had a major influence on human
evolution, genetics, and behavior.

While Shipman
acknowledges that there is an increasingly intimate and reciprocal
set of interactions between animals and humans -- interactions that
compel humans to adopt animals
as pets -- she states that the it all began when humans
began observing and exploiting animals.

After
watching animals and observing their habits, more than 2 million
years ago, humans switched from a vegetarian diet to a meat-based
diet. Shipman said this happened because humans invented stone
hunting tools that enabled them to compete with other predators,
according toThaindian
News.

"We
shortcut the evolutionary process,” said Shipman. “We don’t
have the equipment to be carnivores."

Animals were then
domesticated as an extension of tool-making. Shipman described
domesticated animals as living tools that also provided valuable
renewable resources.

Domesticated animals were utilized for
their muscular power beyond human strength, use as transport and for
raw materials. Managing these living tools required some way to
express and retain this information and out of that need, the
development of languages were formed.

Shipman hypothesizes
that this animal connection, "gave a selective advantage to
humans who had better abilities to observe, draw conclusions,
communicate, and to make a new sort of living tool."

Shipman
is also in the process of developing a book on her findings called
"The Animal Connection".

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